Not Such An Angry Post
So, the last post was made while I was in a pretty bad mood. I thought about deleting it but it is what it is. In other news I'm coming up on two weeks on 2 wheels. So far I've ridden home in a *really* bad thunderstorm and had some very, very cold mornings but overall it's been good.
I've run into some limitations with being 2 wheels only. Grocery store runs suck. I can only shop for a couple of days at a time. I'm looking into a few ways to get around this including buying dry goods from Amazon and meats from Schwan's. I'm not sure it will be economically feasible to have things delivered. The grocery store is on the way home and other than my intense dislike of shopping I really don't have a good reason to pay the delivery premium.
I am finding that the bike is setup ok for long trips but not so much for daily riding. I've got a list of thing that I'm going to need to add/upgrade to get it to a good point so I feel completely comfortable.
Saddlebags - I have the stock Suzuki saddlebags on the bike. They are decent size wise but they don't lock. Normally that's not a problem since when I'm on a trip I'm either with the bike all the time or I don't really care if what I have in the saddlebags get stolen. I'm looking for locking saddlebags and something with a bit more room than the stockers. So far I've found two options that I'm considering:
and
There's a huge price gap between the two different bags. The Corbin hardbags have a size advantage on the Leatherlyke's which are roughly the same size as the bags I have now. I really like the Corbin's better than the Leatherlyke but the price gap is a hard thing for me to overcome. Both are lockable and waterproof. But the size advantage of the Corbin's is very desirable since I will be using them to carry groceries and I'd be able to store my laptop in them instead of bungee'd in my backpack to the back of the bike.
Lighting Upgrade - The nature of my job requires me to work late some times. This turns into riding backroads home, in the dark hoping critters don't jump out in front of me. So far I'm planning on upgrading my headlight to a higher output bulb and getting a lightbar, which will add 2 more lights up front. Something like:
Seat - This is something I've been meaning to upgrade since I bought the bike, but I've just never gotten around to it.. I want a seat that drops me down a little bit into the bike as well as having a back rest for those long trips. The last trip I took to Orlando ended up being pretty uncomfortable on the stock seat. I've found a couple of different seats I'm thinking about:
and
Mustang Two Piece Vintage Touring Seat
Tires - I'm riding ~40 miles a day to and from work now so tires are going to be a biggie. Typically motorcycle tires are made of softer rubber than normal car tires to promote "stickiness" or grip. I've been reading a lot of forum posts and have seen some folks only getting ~1000-1500 miles out of their tires. Well, at roughly 400 bucks for a set of tires that's simply unacceptable for me. My riding style isn't that aggressive and with my last set of tires I got ~10000 miles out of them. I've looked at several different brands from Avon, Metzler and Bridgestone. Bridgestone were the tires that came with the bike and they seem to give me a good balance between grip and wear.
There are several other things that I want to do but those are cosmetic and will be done after everything else is done. As far as an order of precedence, Saddlebags will be first. Then the lighting upgrades and finally the new seat.
Oh, There You Are Apathy
So the last few weeks have been busy, chaotic, blah, blah, blah, etc. I've not been working out and I've been trying to stay with the meal plan but I've had little success there.
The conference was a good experience. I decided to take the bike down to Orlando so I took a day off and super-slabbed it down. 10 hours later I checked into a hotel on the Disney grounds (yes, the conference was at Disney). I was so tired I grabbed some pizza and crashed. Apparently I don't do well being tired and trying to find something healthy. I saw the advert for pizza and the decision was made. The rest of the week saw much of the same. No exercise (aside from walking to and from the parking lot. seriously, it was like half a mile) and I did my best with food choice but I still feel like I failed with that. I took 2 days to ride back and didn't make good food choices. For as long as I've had a bike food has played a bit part. I would base motorcycle rides on finding a dive restaurant or just something different. So as soon as I hit the road I'm on the lookout for interesting food places. I did relegate myself to gas station sandwiches (shut up, I like them), chips and water. I didn't have any fast food on the way back, instead I picked up food at gas stations and stopped at rest stops along the way.
The last week was spent in a general funk about a lot things, things I'm not getting into here. I used the funk as a "way out". I worked out once..But half assed. I had a really hard time hitting my calorie intake. Truth be told, I didn't hit it the entire week. I just wasn't hungry most of the time, but when I finally did feel hungry I didn't eat the right things.
In other news, I sold my Jeep last week. I'm 100% two wheels. I was really nervous about it and still am to be honest but it was a good time to sell and now I have no car payment and hope to get my savings up to a good point in the next few months. I felt the need to do something out of character. I'm a very calculating person when it comes to things like that. I think *a lot* about the "what if's" of a particular action. With selling the Jeep I didn't do that. So far the sky hasn't fallen and I seem to be handling the fallout well. Some things are difficult to such as grocery shopping and trying to carry anything that won't fit in my saddlebags. Those limitations have helped out a bit. Being on the bike makes it really hard to stop for fast food, and very hard to over shop for groceries. I'm still working out the kinks but I do believe that it was a good choice impulsive or not.
This is the part where I say I'm going to get back on track and hit the gym and start hitting my calorie intake with the proper foods, right? But at this point all I can think is what's the point.
In Other News
I'm heading down to FL this week for a conference. I'm taking the bike and planning on doing a bit of camping before the conference and possible after. I think the hotel has a gym. If not I'll be focusing more on running. Food choice is going to be ... interesting..Did I mention that the conference is at Epcot Center? Yea..Wish me luck!
Cheating?
This morning I stopped by Subway and had 2 Western Egg and Cheese Muffin Melts. As I was waiting while they were being made I started asking myself is this cheating on my current meal plan? I'm sticking with the P90x meal plan for the most part. I'm doing a larger calorie deficit than is called for and still having trouble eating enough to meet my daily intake value of 2200 simply because I don't feel hungry and when I do eat it doesn't take as much to fill me up. I've been taking a Men's Multi-Pak vitamin pack from GNC and since I started taking that I've noticed that I'm not as hungry as I used to be..A very odd feeling actually.
But anyway, back to the Subway this morning. I've always used Subway as my "go to" for a healthy choice when eating out. For the most part everything on their menu is much healthier than 99% of fast food places. (Note: Below values are *per* muffin melt. At the end in bold I've included the value for both)
Serving Size: 125g (250g)
Calories: 160 (320)
Calories From Fat: 35 (70)
Total Fat: 4g (8)
Saturated Fat: 1.5g (3)
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 10mg (20)
Sodium: 680mg (1360)
Carbs: 19g (38)
Dietary Fiber: 5g (10)
Sugars: 1g (2)
Protein: 15g (30)
Vitamin A: 2% of Daily Value
Vitamin C: 4% of Daily Value
Calcium: 30% of Daily Value
Iron: 8% of Daily Value
I did some searching on daily allowances and the numbers above fall well into the daily allowance for a 2000 calorie intake. I'm going to double check my meal plan but I believe that it allows 350-400 calories for breakfast.
So, cheating or not cheating?
**EDIT 0827: Oops!! I originally went off the version with whole egg. I actually get the egg white version. Values updated to reflect the egg white goodness. That significantly dropped most values, aside from Sodium.**
The Right Decision
First day back in the gym..I've made a wise decision.
I felt really good before getting to the gym and all through my workout. I went back with a workout I know well. I started with it last year and lost 35lbs with it and some extra cardio.
Doug's Six Day Cutting Routine
I've pointed several people to this workout because it makes sense and it *works*. I keep my rest between sets to 20 seconds and reps between 6-8. I start out with 10 minutes of moderate cardio to get the blood flowing and warm up. Then move into the workout. Because I don't mess around it doesn't take a lot of time to do this workout. Once I get done I do another 20 min of HITT (High Intensity Interval Training). This has been shown to give a better workout than 45-60 min of moderate cardio. Here's what I do on the elliptical:
5 min moderate pace/moderate resistance
2 min fast pace/ max resistance
1 min moderate pace/ moderate resistance
2 min fast pace/max resistance
1 min moderate pace / moderate resistance
3 min fast pace / max resistance
1 min moderate pace / moderate resistance
2 min fast pace / max resistance
1 min moderate pace / moderate resistance
2 min fast pace / max resistance
5 min cool down
All said and done this workout takes me about an hour. I never realized how motivating the gym environment actually is. I definitely feel good about getting back in there. I'm working on a "formalized" plan and I'll post that back here. I'm also doing the Couch to 5k program so I've got to figure a way to get that in. HITT is only recommended 3 times a week. So that leaves me a couple of days for road running. However, I do need to be vigilant to burnout. I don't want to push myself too hard and end up injured or not making any progress.
I did cheat again today, but it was sort of a good kind of cheat. I hopped on the scale at the gym before working out and I've lost 4lbs! And that's weighing in after a full day of water, food, etc. I think I will probably switch back to weekly weigh-in's. It helps motivate me and it will also let me know how my workouts are going. My pants are already starting to feel loose again..So that helps as well 
Miserable
The word I use to describe the last week. Some things I've learned this week:
- I don't like working out at home
- I don't like measuring my food
- I don't like working out at home
- I don't like working out at home
- I don't like working out at home
As you can tell there's a subtle underlying theme...For those that don't pick it up I'll spell it out, I DON"T LIKE WORKING OUT AT HOME!!!!!!! It's gotten to the point that I find myself dreading working out so much that I end up over sleeping and have to workout in the evening, which then makes it difficult to go to sleep.
P90x is what I expected when I bought it...I get a good workout and it's effective. I just don't like being in the house, in front of the TV working out. I've never been a gym rat but I do enjoy the environment. So with that being said I'm adjusting my workouts to include going to the gym more than working out at home. I will continue to do the plyometrics, yoga x, and ab ripper x portions of P90x. I just have to break up the monotony if I'm going to get through this.
As for the food weighing. I'm going to continue to stick with the P90x meal plan. It's got a good selection of food but the only drawback is having to weigh things out. A hassle, but something I'll continue to do.
My frustrations with the plan overall lead me to cheat last week. Thursday afternoon I had a chicken rice bowl from Moe's and Friday I had a steak, which I'd planned on having with the P90x meal plan anyway. But the plan called for 10oz. I had the entire 24oz steak. I felt bad after eating it and resolved to stay on course for the rest of the weekend. I decided to get out of the house on Saturday in order to avoid wanting to eat junk. My mistake there was taking my motorcycle. One of my favorite pastimes is hopping on the bike and finding out of the way diner's (a la Diner, Drive-In's, and Dives). I ended up at Golden Corral. For those that don't know Golden Corral is what I call a "Feed Trough Restaurant." You walk in, pay your money and then slam your face in the feed trough. I hate to say it but if you want to feel better about yourself, go there. I tried to make healthy choices but let's be honest, the "healthy" food there isn't that healthy. Then came Sunday and the Superbowl. My usual routine is something bbq-ey. Well, that ended up being Buffalo Wild Wings. *sigh* Writing it down makes me feel even worse about falling off the wagon.
This is a new week and so far I'm on track. I'll hit the gym up tonight and then get back on track with working out in the mornings. I want to stick with this program for the 90 days and beyond. I just need to find the right balance for me.
Some Advice To Myself
Don't worry about 90 days from now. Worry about tomorrow. Worry about getting your food prepared, workouts planned and then execute. Don't worry if you can't keep up with the videos..Those people have all done *at least* 3 to 4 rounds of p90x. You'll get there..Take your time, focus on form and pretty soon you'll be where they are.
And Then There Were None…
Days that is...February 1st is upon us. Most of my co-workers have decided to take part in this health challenge and I'm stoked that they're doing it! Hopefully between us all we have the motivation to keep everyone on track. So far only 2 of them have blogs so head on over and heckle support them.
I wrote in my last post that despite all my planning and the motivation that I feel, I still felt uneasy. This afternoon I hit why I felt that and still do. I'm giving up my best friend. I'm giving up something that has always been there for me despite everything else. through breakups, through being sad. Nothing/no one makes me feel better than food does. Yes, I'm aware that this is only 90 days and then I can eat whatever the hell I want to in whatever quantity I want. One of my favorite quotes is "Food is for fuel, not fun". I can't rely on anything external to make me happy be it food, drink, exercise, etc..I need to find that happiness within me. So the question I have is, how does one do that??
Today was sort of a last hurrah for the last unhealthy lunch as a team. We went to my favorite place in the world, Cherry Bomb Grill. Below is a list of what I ate:
- 1.5 crab cakes
- 4 deviled eggs
- 1 hangover burger (pepper jack cheese, bloody mary mayo, avocado, and an over-easy egg)
- full order of fries
- krispy kreme bread pudding
- 2 large cokes
It's been a really long time since I've eaten like that and that is an extremely heavy meal for lunch. I really thought I was going to throw up on the way back to the office. I wasn't the only one that threw down but I spent the rest of the day feeling absolutely horrible and guilty for eating so much that I was physically ill. I've gotten to that point more times than I can remember. For the next 90 days I will not feel that way again! To be honest at 2324 I still feel sick from lunch...Not a good feeling..Not a good feeling at all..
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